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Daily Archives: September 10, 2009

—The spotlight comes to town for the Big East opener against West Virginia Dec. 26 on CBS. The stakes will be huge against the league’s best team (in this blogger’s opinion). It’s been seven years since the Hall had a home game featured on CBS (a loss to Illinois in 2002). Seems more like a million to those of us who remember regular CBS visits to the Meadowlands in the early 1990s. You can bet the Selection Committee will be watching.

—As the lone major-conference foe on Seton Hall’s non-conference slate, Virginia Tech will be a monumental game on Jan. 2. A loss would kick a dent in the Pirates’ NCAA resume. Cancun is a wacky setting, but getting aired on ESPN2 is not a bad tradeoff.

—The Big East home dates are intriguing, with glamour foes in Syracuse, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame.

—Seven games on national television is a huge leap for the program and a sign of respect.

—The ambitious fan could make a manageable drive to see every game on this schedule except four (Cancun, South Florida, Pittsburgh and West Virginia).

—We’ve heard good things about Monmouth’s new arena, which is finally done after about 150 years of zoning hassles. Don’t be surprised if the Pirates’ Jersey Shore faithful pack the MAC Nov. 15.

LOWLIGHTS:

—Our feelings on the Charmin-softness of the non-conference slate and its potential ramifications are well known.

—Raw deal for season-ticket holders because the two best games (Va. Tech and Cornell) are out of town.

—You’ve got to wonder what the student section is going to look like during two important home games the week between Christmas and New Year’s (West Virginia and Syracuse). Watch Syracuse fans get their hands on tickets.

—Playing Rutgers twice in 10 days at the end of the season is pure buzzkill scheduling by the Big East. Hey dopes, those rivalry games need to be spaced out.

—The Hall doesn’t get a Big East bottom-feeder until Game 8 of their league slate (at USF), although five of those first seven tilts are home.

—The game at St. John’s will be held in — you guessed it — Carnesecca Arena!

Below are the key parts of today’s conference call transcript. Wow this was provacative stuff — almost a stream of consciousness with references to Rutgers, St. John’s, a couple of prominent media members, and a line about big-time teams being scared of Seton Hall.

There is also a lengthy defense of Seton Hall’s non-conference schedule (you can find that at the bottom.) Side note: The call started 20 minutes late because Gonzo said he was busy discplining an unnamed player for missing class this morning.

On why the extension happened:

“When I came here two of the last three coaches had been let go, one coach, Tommy Amaker, had success. There’s obviously been a lot of changes. I came in and we started out being picked 15 th out of 16. I think because of the slow steady progress we’ve made the first three years in the league, how hard this league is, where we were when I got here, I think that’s why the administration looked at what we’ve done so far, the possibility of what he can do, and if there’s a chance to be positive and promote somebody, you’ve got to do it. You look at college basketball and there are scandals all over the place.”

The state of the program right now:

When I got here I wanted to establish our style of play, try to improve the buzz around the program in terms of the energy level, do a better job of keeping local kids home…for the most part we’ve accomplished all those things. I wanted to get to 20 wins and at least the NIT in our third year. We were very close. We had some setbacks.

It’s taken some time, now going into our fourth year we’re now caught up and where we want to be. It’s the first roster we had that has the depth, talent and quickness. Where we can play the way I want to play . . . We’ve proven ourselves offensively, and people said our teams have been fun to watch but they’re not always consistent defensively . . . now we have to be tougher on the glass, we have to do a better job in our half-court defense when we come back from our full-court press.

Yes we’ve taken a lot of chances on some borderline students, transfers, tough kids, juco kids, but now we’re getting involved with a higher level of player, a little bit of a better student, a more well-rounded kid.

The last part of it we have to win. We can talk about this that and that and the other thing, and the school giving me the extension in phenomenal, but you know, in the metropolitan area it’s an event-driven world and you have to win.

Somebody in the metropolitan area needs to take the bull by the horns and become a destination spot for those local kids. They continue to believe they have to leave to get to the NCAA Tournament, they can’t stay home and win. They have to go to some big-name place to get to the NCAA Tournament, and we’ve got to try to change that.

What the extension does in practical terms:

I understand there might have been a little controversy following me, especially after my second year and I got into trouble after the Rutgers game. There was the infamous Lenny Robbins article. And Pat Forde, who continues to say I’m on the hot seat, who I guess is a Louisville beat writer who works for ESPN, all those guys who continue to participate in this gang-up every spring. Rival coaches tend to pick up on that and it hurts your recruiting.

I think this thing shuts everybody up and let’s everybody know, all this must not be true, it must be rumor, it must be inaccurate. Seton Hall has stepped up, they’re behind him, they must believe in him. It shuts everybody up—rivals, media, everybody.

On how the deal got done:

This is something that’s been in the works for a while. Senator Codey has been very influential. He’s been helping out, sort of representing me, almost like a quasi-agent. He’s a wonderful supporter of the program.

On his specific goals for this season:

“We’ve got to continue to try to get ahead of Rutgers and St. John’s. We’ve got to try to get from that bottom six and fight like cats and dogs like crazy to get into that top 10. Some people might say we’ll end up in the top six, I hope we do, heck we’ll have a parade if we’re one through six. But realistically it’s not easy to jump up . . . we’d like to be in the high side of that 6-10. If you’re in the high side, like six, seven or eight, you’ve got a better chance of going to the NCAAs. That’s the next goal we have.”

I wanted to get into the postseason in my third year, I think the Michael Glover thing set us back, not making excuses. To me I feel I’m putting pressure on myself to get into the postseason. The NIT is a lot harder to get into than it used to be. I’m not going to be satisfied with the NIT, and I know fans won’t be. I want this team to got to the NCAAs. I’m not going to sugarcoat it.

So we’ve got to do better than the other teams in the metropolitan area, we’ve got to be in the top 10 (in the league), and we’ve got to make the NCAAs.”

Some general thoughts Gonzo opened with:

“Very, very excited to have this announcement made, especially right before the season. I just think it makes a statement about our hard work of our kids, our coaches and our program.

“When I started we were picked 15th in the league, We’ve built it to the point where we’re being talked about in competition with the upper-echelon teams in the league . . . those things are all potential and we haven’t done it yet, but the fact that those things are being discussed means we’re heading in the right direction.”

“Security is important with recruiting and with all the people who are following the program. I want to know the school’s committed to me and the school wants to know I’m committed to them.”

On whether this extension adds pressure to perform:

“I think it’s completely the opposite, 360 degrees in the other direction . . . I’m not coming off of 20 losses or one winning season in the last five years . . . I think there’s a feeling out there we need to win 20, 25 games to go to the NCAAs, if not, how many years do I have on left on my contract, what’s my situation with monsignor leaving because he was the person who hired me . . . if anything, this would clarify that the only pressure will be self-induced.”

On this year’s soft non-conference schedule:

“We know that some people have taken shots at us and said our non-conference schedule, and that’s fine. Only thing we can say to that, and it’s not me being defensive, is that word got out we’ve got four starters coming back and a couple of kids who sat out and hey, it’s not a great time to play Seton Hall. We had a hard time getting glamour teams. We did the best we could . . .

My philosophy is, you’ve got to win enough games in this conference. You win enough games in this conference, you’re going to go the NCAA Tournament regardless of this non-conference schedule. That’s my take on what we need to do this year to go to the NCAA.

“It’s easier sometimes to get on a two-year track with scheduling than a one-year track. We’re in conversations with Minnesota and Dayton about coming to Seton Hall and playing us at home next year. We’re in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. We’re in the Big East-SEC Challenge.

“I don’t worry too much about the team not being ready to play tough Big East competition. You may think this it’s a cop-out if I try to sell Cornell or UMass and Temple . . . but you get challenged . . . when you have four starter turning, when you have guys who sat on the bench and watched last year, I’m not worried about beign ready. It’s tough in the Big East no matter who you play.”

This idea that we got cold feet (in making the schedule), that’s an unfair rap. We were willing to play ujust about anybody at any time, from Kentucky to Kansas to whoever. We were trying to get one or two glamour games at home, a couple of big-name teams that were willing to come into our building so we could get sellouts, excitement, and make money to so we could help our guaranteed money. The problem was people didn’t want to come here because they knew we were going to be good. We said OK we’ll start the series at your place but you have to return the game the following year. That’s where some of the big boys said, we’ll play you at our place but we’re not returning the game. There’s a lot more to the story than got out there. It’s a little unfair to say we got cold feet. We said yes to a couple of situations but they just couldn’t happen because of exams and TV.

It was a combination of a lot of things, but I think some of that reputation of us being unwilling to play people was a little unfair and a little undeserved.”

Below is the crux of the statement, with quotes from Msgr. Sheeran and Joe Quinlan.

Side note 1: We’re surprised, sort of, that Quinlan isn’t participating in the conference call. You figure the AD would answer questions about the decision to extend the contract of his most prominent coach. It just reinforces the image that Quinlan and Gonzalez are on different pages.

Side note 2: According to financial documents filed by Seton Hall, Gonzalez is the university’s highest-paid employee at $425,000 per year. His current contract had a base of five years (two remaining).

SOUTH ORANGE—Seton Hall’s Bobby Gonzalez has received a contract extension to remain the Pirates’ men’s basketball head coach through the 2014-15 season; it was announced Thursday by Director of Athletics, Joe Quinlan.

“This extension serves as a strong indicator of the University’s commitment and support for Bobby Gonzalez as head coach of our men’s basketball program,” Quinlan said. “We expect to be successful and believe that Coach Gonzalez has taken the necessary steps to position our program for future success. He has made progress with the program in only three years and we are very pleased to have him as our head coach.”

Gonzalez will begin his fourth season as the Seton Hall head coach on Friday, November 13 when the Pirates host Saint Peter’s at Prudential Center. In three seasons, he has a 47-46 overall record in South Orange, which already ranks him eighth on the school’s all-time wins list.

“Coach Gonzalez has brought us a long way in three years in the most competitive conference in the country,” said Monsignor Robert Sheeran, University President. “He has my enthusiastic support and I’m looking forward to a memorable season this year.”

For the third straight season, the Pirates exceeded expectations in 2008-09. Predicted to finish 13th in the grueling BIG EAST Conference, Gonzalez guided the Seton Hall to an 11th place finish with seven victories in conference play. It marked the second consecutive season that the Pirates were picked 13th, but placed 11th. Seton Hall also notched 17 overall victories for a second straight year and won their first game in the BIG EAST Championship since 2003, a 68-54 victory over USF.

“I am excited and truly pleased with the devotion Seton Hall has shown me with this extension,” Gonzalez said. “With the positive steps we’ve taken in our first three years, we now believe we are ready to take the program to the next level. The Seton Hall administration and overall community has been incredibly supportive throughout our time here and now we know we’ll be a part of this family for the long term.”

About the Author

Jerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.Email Jerry.